MODELING RADIATIVE-TRANSFER IN SF6 CIRCUIT-BREAKER ARCS WITH THE P-1 APPROXIMATION

Radiative transfer in SF6 are plasmas is one of the key issues in mode lling circuit-breaker arcs properly. For a transient are flow interact ion model, the P-1 approximation appears to be a viable alternative, b oth from an efficiency and from an accuracy point of view. Evaluation of this approximation against other methods, such as the net emission coefficients model and the partial characteristics method, shows that the model handles the strong self-absorption at the are boundary well and gives results with good accuracy. The method has been successfully implemented in a Euler are-flow solver and the complete methodology h as been applied to a high-current SF6 circuit-breaker are. The computa tional results are compared with published experimental data.